Zawaya

Dialogue is a lofty, religious and ethical value

By: Said Elakhal

Dialogue lies at the heart of the Islamic value system. It’s a Qur’anic moral that marks the relationship of Muslims with other monotheistic people, whose freedom of religion is preserved by Islam without any restrictions.

The Holy Qur’an mentions several dialogue scenes between Allah and Satan, and between the apostles – peace be upon them – and the infidels. Allah the Almighty even heard the lady who argued with the Prophet about her husband who declared her unlawful to him like his mother, “Certainly has Allah heard the speech of the one who argues with you, [O Muhammad], concerning her husband and directs her complaint to Allah. And Allah hears your dialogue”.

This lofty religious value has disappeared due to intellectual poverty, which leads to religious extremism among Muslims and Christians in the Arab world.

The content of programmes broadcast by satellite TV reflects the extent of the ethical and intellectual decline reached by both sides in their efforts to ridicule each other’s beliefs.

It’s worth mentioning that the Holy Qur’an defines a golden rule that Muslims should follow in their dialogue with the people of the book, based on two pillars: 1) “And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best”, in order to preserve coexistence and respect among peoples. 2) “And indeed, we or you are either upon guidance or in clear error”, without defaming or ridiculing the beliefs of others.

A Muslim’s faith is not valid unless he believes in all prophets and apostles, as stated in the Qur’anic verse: “The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], ‘We make no distinction between any of His messengers’.”

To support interfaith dialogue, we should design a strategy with clear objectives, based on the following points:

1 – Spreading tolerance values among monotheistic believers within each country, so that religious differences do not affect national unity nor threaten stability.

2- Promoting an open and enlightened religious discourse that conveys a sound meaning of Islam, as a religion that’s not confined to following the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), but that also includes all monotheistic believers, as Allah the Almighty says: “It is the religion of your father Ibrahim (Abraham). It is He (Allah) Who has named you Muslims”.

3- Stopping the religious wars waged by some satellite channels against monotheistic believers, as they only deepen the feelings of hatred and resentment, and push religious people to confrontation.

4- Promoting citizenship values that reinforce one’s sense of belonging to the homeland, and to the nation with its various political components, and religious and doctrinal sects, instead of promoting a sense of belonging to religion, as it spreads segregation and repulsion among the spectra of the same nation. Religion is for God, the homeland is for all.

5- Accelerating the pace of the democratic transition to build more open and tolerant societies, so that the homeland unites all citizens, and grants them freedom, dignity and equality. We can’t build an advanced nation with citizens who hate each other, and who are separated by their beliefs.

Encouraging citizens, and especially youngsters, to carry out interfaith dialogue, will certainly bridge the gap between citizens of different religious sects and creeds, and will also strengthen social cohesion that represents the foundation of modern, democratic societies that promote the values of dialogue, diversity and tolerance.